Whilst there is now overwhelming evidence that greenhouse-gas
pollution is becoming the dominant process responsible for global
warming, it is also clear that the climate system varies quite
naturally on different time-scales. Predicting the course of future
climate change consequently requires an understanding of the
natural variability of the climate system as well as the effects of
human-induced change. This book is concerned with our current
understanding of natural climate change, its variability on decadal
to centennial time-scales, the extent to which climate models of
different kinds simulate past variability, and the role of past
climate variability in explaining changes to natural ecosystems and
to human society over the later part of the Holocene. The book
highlights the need to improve not only our understanding of the
physical system through time but also to improve our knowledge of
how people may have influenced the climate system in the past and
have been influenced by it, both directly and indirectly.

This ground-breaking text addresses predictable modification in
the climate system in the context of global warming. Ideal for
researchers and advanced students, it explores current thinking on
natural climate change.

Addresses the natural variability of the climate system in the
context of global warming

Contributes substantially to the ongoing discussion on global
warming

Integrates state of the art research and brings together
modeling and data communities in a balanced way

Considers questions of climate change on different
time-scales

“Natural climate variability and global warming is
clearly an important book, well-focused and distinctive, with
fundamental things to say about Holocene science and its interface
with the practical problem of global warming. It is an
authoritative, up-to-date summary and synthesis of current
knowledge in this area and is attractively produced with clear,
colour illustrations throughout. It is a ‘must’ for all
university libraries and our private book collections.”
The Holocene, 2009.

Rick Battarbee is Professor of Environmental Change and
Director of the Environmental Change Research Centre at UCL. He is
a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Foreign Member of the Norwegian
Academy of Science and Letters and was the Chair of the European
Science Foundation program “HOLIVAR.”

Heather Binney is a Research Fellow in the Environmental
Change Research Centre, UCL. She is a palynologist with a special
interest in pollen-vegetation relationships.

"Volumes
such as this provide the historical contexts and broad overviews
needed to advance climate change biology toward broader conceptual
developments and synthetic methodologies for understanding and
predicting climate change effects, as well as developing effective
adaptation and mitigation strategies.". (The Quarterly Review of
Biology, 1 December 2010)

“This
is an important book for understanding climate changes in a longer
perspective.” (Geologos,
2010)

“This book
brings together some of the most prolific names in their field to
create a sound and interesting look into this area.” (The
Environmentalist, November
2009)

“It highlights the need to improve not only our
understanding of the physical system through time but also our
knowledge of human influence on the climate system and vice
versa.” (Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
, April 2009)

“Although aimed at ‘researchers and advanced
students’, this layman found the book perfectly
accessible.” (Geoscientist, August 2009)

"The rapid climate change that seems to be occurring world-wide
make this volume both timely and instructive, concentrating as it
does on the Holocene period.... An essential addition for an
meteorological library." (The International Journal of
Meteorology, April 2009)

The Holocene, the interval covered by the last 12,000 years,
represents a largely nonglacial period in Earth's climatic
evolution. This book synthesizes the climate history of this
interval and investigates the role of natural climate variability
in explaining current global warming. The volume contains ten
chapters written by experts in various aspects of past climate
change. Chapter 1 provides a short introduction and outlines the
objectives/contents of subsequent chapters. The next chapter, the
longest (51 pages), considers the progress, paradigms, and problems
in Holocene climate research. Chapter 3 addresses the fundamental
question of the human role in the changing climate of the Holocene
while acknowledging that climate change itself has strongly
impacted the history of civilizations. Our ability to predict
future climate depends on our ability to reconstruct and model what
has already happened; chapter 4 explores this vital issue.
Subsequent chapters examine some relevant intervals including the
so-called Holocene thermal optimum, and evaluate and model what
natural processes might have contributed to observed climate
histories. The final chapters assess rapid land-cover change and
analyze future climate change within the perspective of the last
12,000 years. Includes chapter references, an eight-page index, and
a three-page summary of abbreviations and dating conventions.
Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers,
faculty, professional audiences. -- J. T. Andrews, University of
Colorado at Boulder (Choice, February 2009)

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